Using purees to get baby to make consonant sounds and chew?

Ok, so my son's OT asked about solids. My son is 7 1/2 months and we started solids about 2 weeks ago. He was 4 weeks early, and has motor delays, so we waited until 7 months. (and I wasn't ready). He started with avocado, then roasted butternut squash, then cooked carrots, then banana.

The OT asked how he responded to them. I said he tastes it, has gotten a little in his mouth and moves it around, and has swallowed a tiny bit. Not feeding any purees was definitely new to her. But she also was concerned about my son's lack of consonants (b,d,m,p). We are totally not concerned about that. If he's over a year and not making any, then I'd be concerned.

So she was telling me that purees will help him learn how to chew, and will get his lips moving, if he hasn't figured them out, if that's what's hindering consonants.

We explained we valued him feeding himself, and choosing what he puts in his mouth and how much.

But she left and then I got worried- Am I not doing the right thing by him? Is he getting enough on milk alone? Does finger food not expose him to enough texture? Is he going to choke?

(His growth is fine-I don't know why I worry about that. His 3 measures are all above the percentile chart.)

Re: Using purees to get baby to make consonant sounds and ch

I have a friend who is a speech therapist and she explained to me that one of the great benefits of breast feeding is how it builds up the muscles concerned in speech. As she does not publish in English I found this here on KellyMom http://kellymom.com/bf/normal/speech-development/
It really makes sense to me that the muscle buildup involved in BF helps with speech development. So I would really not worry about chewing puree. He has learned to move his lips to bf and this will help him to use them for other purposes

But she also was concerned about my son's lack of consonants (b,d,m,p). We are totally not concerned about that. If he's over a year and not making any, then I'd be concerned.

I would agree with you - there is no need to worry about this at this time in his life. Even in children born to term speech develpment varies.